The Truth of Water and Iron
by Artistic Ane
Summary: Jeanne is afraid. No, terrified. But once she sees the truth about the new recruits, will she still be as scared? The seventh story in Jeanne's Fairy Tail. Rated K plus for mild swearing.


_The following text is a fan fiction. Obviously, since it's posted on a site called fanfiction... Anyway, the only character I own is Jeanne de'Vajell. Everything else is property of Hiro Mashima. Please, comment, critique, even flame if you'd like. But if you upset me, I'll sic Gajeel on you._

* * *

I was scared.

I was sitting down, eating lunch, in the nearly finished guild, and I was scared.

I'm not ashamed of it. I can openly admit that I was terrified. Erza and her team have been gone for about four days now; they were in Akane, Loke's thank you to Lucy for saving him. Laxus and the Raijinshuu were also not here; we haven't even seen the latter in months. Mystogan never sticks around, and Gildartz has been away for years.

So it was really only the Master that I believed could protect us all from this horror in our doorway.

Gajeel Redfox was staring at us all.

Of course, everyone who _was _there were not happy. At all.

"The hell is this?"

"Did you come for seconds?"

"Master, what is the meaning of this?!"

I couldn't speak. I was too scared. This was the man- no, the monster that attacked our guild, the reason we were remodeling it! What's more, he left Levy, Jet, and Droy for dead on my doorstep!

Behind him, was a pale girl with short, blue hair. Her name was Juvia. I knew this, because she referred to herself in the third person. After much research -or, sneaking around and listening to other people's conversations- I learned that she was part of the Element 4, and was a key point in Lucy's kidnapping.

What the _hell_ were they doing here?

Master appeared in between us and the intruders. "Children, they are here to join us. After much thought and consideration, I've decided to allow it."

Everyone was in an uproar.

I looked toward Team Shadow Gear. Levy was hiding behind Jet and Droy, looking scared shitless, and the two boys were looking freakin' pissed. I don't think they'd actually do anything though. Not yet anyway.

If Master was trusting them not to stab us in the back, then I could trust them too. But that didn't mean I wasn't scared. Gajeel had already broken my ribs before, I did not doubt he could do it again. And if Juvia was a member of the Element 4, then she would be quite the formidable foe, as well.

I raised my hand to my glasses. I didn't like looking through my friends' pasts, but did I really think of them as my friends? They had already done so much to us; it'd be nice to have leverage for once.

On the other hand, _if_ they ended up befriending us, I'd feel terrible for knowing what only they should know.

However, they might not even have a whole lot to hide. Only a few weeks ago, they didn't seem to have any sort of conscience. Gajeel, especially.

Gritting my teeth, and glancing to the sides to make sure no one was watching me, I slipped my glasses a little down my nose, just enough for me to see the auras over the edge. Juvia first, I decided.

And I saw another lonely childhood. It always rained wherever she was. She was bullied for it in school. Everyone treated her coldly. She was just a gloomy rain-woman… She made her own dolls to be her friends. She couldn't even hold down a boyfriend, because they couldn't accept this part of her. Nobody accepted her.

I looked away with an aching heart, pushing my glasses up again. I guess, you really can't judge someone on first sight. My suspicions were that Jose used her loneliness as leverage to keep her, maybe threatening her with abandonment if she ever thought to leave. Unless that bastard actually took pity on her, and truly did accept her for her, and not her powers.

Yeah, right.

I looked to Gajeel. Did I really want to do this again? What if he too had just as lonely a past?

Wait. This guy? Who was known to call us Fairy Asses? Who laughed at the thought of hurting others? Come on, even someone with a crappy past wouldn't be as sadistic as him, right?

Determined to get something on this guy, I slid my specs down again. And the images started flashing.

The first one was a young boy crying at the mouth of a cave, sobbing for 'Metalicana.' His nose was runny, and his red eyes were bloodshot. He looked so… pathetic. He wandered about, looking for someone to fill the hole his dragon left. Everything shifted a bit to a hallway I recognized as one from Era. One of the members of the Council was 'suggesting' that Gajeel leave Phantom Lord. And he got pissed, of course. Why would I see this? The woman mentioned that he reminded her of her dead son. Oh. A look I could not place flashed on the Slayer's face before his usual glare returned. What was that about?

Then the scene changed to one I assumed was quite recent. He was eating metal in his ruined guild, and the Master was talking to him. Master was calm, before radiating anger I only saw once before. He seemed to be threatening Gajeel.

I replaced my glasses again. That was rather… confusing. Why would Master threaten him to join the guild? I assume this was his way of making Gajeel pay for his sins. But there had to be more to it that just that… And also, how did such a sweet little boy turn into… into that? I could only assume that Phantom Lord's atmosphere did it. The Phantom Jerks hated us, more ferociously than we ever could hate them, and maybe he only followed the crowd? It seems that Gajeel forms bonds of loyalty rather quickly… His sobbing face flashed across my mind again, and I was suddenly stricken with the desire to hug him.

I stood up quickly. _Holy hell, did I just think that?_ What's more, I was disgusted with myself. To think I wanted leverage. Well, I got it.

Damn me.

And now I wanted to hug the both of them.

Good grief, if the others didn't think of me as weird now, they certainly would if I did that.

Actually, I was already getting some strange looks, due to my sudden action. While I was snooping, Master had calmed the masses, and Gajeel and Juvia were sitting at a table on the edge of the crowd. Many decided to continue their work or meals, but there were still a few death glares sent to the duo's way. Shadow Gear were no where to be seen.

Well, I couldn't just sit back down after my sudden movement. There were quite a few eyes on me already. I had to do something! Give my action a purpose.

And I walked over to our newest members.

_Wait. What? No, Jeanne, turn around!_ _Get back to your lunch! Or go to the request board! ...Why are you still walking towards them?_

When I reached their table, nearly everyone was staring at me. I should've just sat down. Juvia was looking a little nervous, and Gajeel looked like he was gonna eat me.

"Um." My voice was hoarse, probably outta fear, so I cleared my throat. "If Master trusts you two, then I guess I can, too. Welcome to Fairy Tail." I bowed my head a little, not wanting to break eye contact.

Juvia gave a little happy smile, which kind of warmed my heart after seeing mini-her sobbing before, as she said, "Juvia thanks you." She bowed low, lower than she really should've.

Gajeel, however, narrowed his eyes. "Why were ya starin' at us?"

I breathed in sharply. '_What could I say? Not the truth; __hell_ _no! Um… they're new! Everyone's staring! Oh, gods why won't my mouth work?'_

Thankfully, Juvia answered for me. "Gajeel-**san**, everyone's staring at us," she said softly.

Gajeel slowly shook his head, red eyes narrowing still. "They've been shootin' us warning glances. _This_ one's been just starin'. Like she's expectin' somethin'."

"That's just something Jeanne-**san** does!" a voice called out from behind me. I think it was Laki, but I was too freaked to really tell. "You'll get used to it!"

I blinked. I didn't realize that others noticed that… Wait. Issue. They know my name now! Ah, crap! That can't be good!

"Well, don't let me catch you at it again, John. I don't like it," Gajeel warned.

"Gajeel-**san**," Juvia whispered.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, before leaving quickly, and just exiting the guild.

On my way to the door, I heard some people muttering.

"She was just saying 'welcome.' He didn't have to be so rude."

"Whaddaya expect from a guy like that?"

"God, and I thought I couldn't like him any less."

"He's just so unlikeable!"

But, was he, really? Surely that emotional little boy still resided in there, somewhere?

I was walking in the street, contemplating what I had seen. Why was it that I could only see the hard stuff? I've got so many images of so many crying children in my head! And it wasn't fair that they were hurt! None of them deserved it! And the jerks who made it happen… I couldn't even do anything for them any more!

Revenge would never be something I could do for someone.

Suddenly, I felt a huge magical presence heading my way at an alarmingly fast pace. I stiffened, and stood still in the street.

"Oi."

I shrieked as I spun around, grabbing my bow and loading it. The barrel was suddenly shoved against the throat of Gajeel.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I cried, pulling back my weapon, refastening it, and reclaiming the bolt of magic. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that! I almost shot you! How would that look, right after you just joined? But wait a sec, you should've been able to avoid that, you're definitely much faster than me. Did you mean to have me almost- oh, wait. I'm babbling. Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry, I do that when I'm freaked. I should shut up now. In fact I will, did you want something?" My face was so warm, I'd bet I was as red as an apple.

He just stared at me, and my crossbow for a while. Quite a while. It was getting awkward fast.

"Um, if you're not gonna say anything…" I stepped back, prepared to walk off again, when he spoke.

"Thanks."

I paused. It was gruff, short and terse, but I could tell, he meant it. I probably wouldn't get an apology for the way he talked, but I didn't need it. A private thank you was fine.

I smiled gently at him. "No prob, just… don't give us cause to regret it. It'll take awhile for us all to trust you two."

I thought it'd be better if I didn't single him out. I was about to turn, when he spoke up again.

"Oi, John, do you really have a thing for starin' at people?"

I was silent a moment, thinking carefully at my next words. "Not as much as I used to. Or, at least that I've noticed. And… my name is Jeanne."

"Too fancy, too many sounds. John."

...Okay then. I shrugged, waved, and headed off to my evening combat class.


End file.
